Division of the Social Sciences

University of Minnesota, Morris

Transnational Enterprise

(Mgmt 3601)

FALL 2009

T TH: 4:00p.m. – 5:40p.m.

CLASS: 113 Imholte Hall

Dr. Cyrus Bina

Office: Camden 206

Phone & Voicemail: 589-6193

Fax: 589-6117

E-mail:

Office Hours: T TH:11:45 a.m. – 1:00p.m. and/or by appointment

TEXTBOOK:

Peter Dicken, Global Shift: Mapping the Changing Contours of the World Economy,5th Edition (New York/London: The Guilford Press, 2007).

Cyrus Bina, “Globalization: The Epochal Imperatives and Developmental Tendencies,” in The Political Economy of Globalization (ed.), D. Gupta, Boston: Gluwer Academic Press, 1997, pp, 41-58 [on reserve at the Briggs Library].

Cyrus Bina and Chuck Davis, “Globalization, Technology and Skill Formation in Capitalism,” in Political Economy and Contemporary Capitalism (eds.) R. Baiman et al., Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 2000, pp. 193-202 [on reserve at the Briggs Library].

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course provides the basic knowledge about the development and transformation of business enterprise within the global economy. This includes the basic impact of structural, institutional, and organizational change upon the dynamics of the firm and industry in the contemporary hyper-competitive, technology-driven, fast-paced, global environment (prerequisite: Mgmt 2102, Eco.1111, Econ. 1112 or permission by instructor).

COURSE OBJECTIVE:

  • “Corporate Revolution,” and concentration and centralization of capital.
  • The role of technological and institutional change.
  • Mega Corporation and overcoming of barriers.
  • The war of competition and constant search for “new frontier.”
  • The nature of the transnationalization process.
  • The nature of management strategy in today’s hyper-competition.
  • Decision-making in the fast-paced and uncertain era of globalization.

COURSE REQUIREMENT:

While the text would establish the basic groundwork for this course, a bulk of lecture materials and thus extended class discussions are essential parts of the study. As a result, class participation and class discussions carry considerable weight in the final grading of the course. In addition to a midterm and a final exam, there will be an informally written and formally presented oral project. The selection of relevant topics pertaining to an industry or a transnational enterprise shall be made soon after the first session. The format, magnitude, and the nature of presentations shall be fully discussed during the first week of the class. In addition, there will be a group presentation of some selected chapters from the text by students. The expectation of participation, search for updated materials, and adequate critical discussions are essential in this course.

GRADE DISTRIBUTION:

Midterm Exam: ……………………………………………….30%

Final Exam: ………………………………………………….. 35%

Oral Presentations: …………….…………………………….. 25%

Class Participation: ………………………………………….. 10%

The grading scale is as follows:

A:93 – 100A-:90 – 92B+:87 – 89

B:83 – 86B-:80 – 82C+:76 – 79

C:72 – 75C:68 – 71D+:64 – 67

D:60 – 63F:60 and below.

TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE

Week One:

I.Plan of thecourse, the framework and initial lecture presentation, an overall discussion about the significance of materials, the format and nature of exams and importance of the oral projects shall be in order.

II.Development of the Business Enterprises at the beginning of the 20th

Century, The Mergers Movement, the Significance of “Corporate Revolution: Separation of Control and Ownership” the Nature of Technological and Organizational Change that is known as “Fordism.” [Lectures and Discussions]; determination of topics to be studied and presented to class.

Week Two:

I.the Nature of Concentration and Centralization in the Business Firms;

The prerequisites of “Fordism;” the Characteristics of “Fordism: (1) Mass Production, (2) Mass Consumption, and (3) Mass Purchasing Power;” the Assembly Line; Wage, Disposable Income and Labor Market [Lectures and Discussions].

II. Historical Development of Business Enterprise; Transformation of Business Enterprise; Dialectical Method of Analysis: (1) the Relation of Quantity to Quality Change, and (2) the Relation of Potential to Actual [Lectures and Discussions].

III. The Nature of Competition; Internal Development of Business

Firms toward Potential Overcoming of all Boarders and Barriers (e.g., boarder of industries, etc.); Firm’s Internal Development: From Potential to Actual; the Transnationalization Process: Overcoming the Geographical Boarder [Lectures and Discussions].

Week Three:

Competition in the World of Business: 1) Active Engagement vs. Passive

Stance, 2) Conflict vs. Harmony, and 3) Internal Dynamics vs. External Imposition. Review of (mainstream) Neoclassical Theory of Competition: Market Structure Theory Revisited; Competition in Capitalism à la Schumpeter; A Real World Critique of Textbook Economics; A Model of Competition from the Contradictory Dynamics of the Firm and Industries: Competition and Conflict [Lectures and Discussions].

Week Four:

I. Why the Transnational Enterprises and Transnationalization? Review ofMaterials: Toward a Synthesis on the Dynamics of Transnational Enterprise; Development of Hyper-competition and Hyper-competitive Strategy; the Age of Globalization [Bina, “Globalization,” Lectures and Discussions].

II. Technology and TechnologicalChange in the Modern Age; Skills and Skill Formation in the Modern Age; the Concept of Skill in the Pre-Capitalist Crafts vs. Skill in Capitalism; Dialectical relationship of Technological Change and Skilling and Deskilling of Labor; the Necessary and Sufficient for Recognition of Skills (intrinsic and extrinsic conditions); Transnational R&D Departments and Global Technological Change [Lectures and Discussions].

III. How to Prepare the Research Projects for Presentation (mini lecture). Further discussion of the topics.

Week Five:

  1. REVIEW OF THE MATERIALS FOR EXAM:

Question and Answer Session.

  1. QUESTIONSABOUT THE PROJECTS.

MIDTERM EXAMSeptember 25, 2009MIDTERM EXAM

Week Six:

Global Shift, Chapter 1:”Questioning Globalization,” Chapter 2: “The Changing Global Economic Map,” Chapter 3: “Technological Change.”

Week Seven:

Global Shift, Chapter 4: “Transnational Corporations: the Primary

‘Movers and Shapers’ of the Global Economy,” Chapter 8: “Dynamics of Conflict and Collaboration,” and Chapter 19: “Making the World a Better Place.”

  • Review of Materials for the Final Exam:

Questions and Answers.

Week Eight:

  • Oral Presentations(October 9 and 11, 2009)
  • Submission of a Brief Reflection on the Questions Raised During the Presentations, plusDelivery of Notes and Informal Writings(October 19, 2007)

FINAL EXAMTuesday,October 16, 2009FINAL EXAM

Thursday, October 19, 2009:

Completing the course by Leaving Notes &Research Materials in my mailbox at the Division Office

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